Engaging

How to spell engaging

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce engaging

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does engaging mean?

1. adjectiveCharming and attractive in a way that holds someone's interest or affection.

Engaging in a sentence

• The museum guide had an engaging manner that kept the whole group listening.

• Her presentation was so engaging that nobody glanced at their phones.

Where does engaging come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Old French verb engager, meaning 'to pledge' or 'to bind by a promise', which itself was built from the prefix en- (meaning 'to put into') and gage, a word for a pledge or pawn that English also kept in 'wage' and 'mortgage'. When English adopted engage in the 1500s, it first meant to pledge oneself, to bind by an obligation, or to lock together, as gears or troops do. From the idea of binding or holding fast came the more social sense of holding a person's attention or affection, and the present participle 'engaging' settled into use as an adjective for anything that pleasantly captures notice. The spelling keeps the soft -g- of gage, so the trap for writers is remembering the single g before -ing rather than doubling it.

How the word is built

• en- (to make, put into)
• gage (a pledge, from Old French)
• -ing (present participle / adjective suffix)